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☆ Temu, the online superstore, expands to Europe after conquering the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Temu, an online shopping platform that has quickly become the most popular app in the United States, has crossed the Atlantic. The company is now operating in six European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom, according to its website. Temu is a Boston-based online retailer that was launched last year by PDD (PDD), a US-listed company formerly known as Pinduoduo. PDD (PDD) was previously based in Shanghai but it has recently moved its head office to Dublin, according to the company’s regulatory filings. It’s able to drive down costs, and prices, thanks to a network of more than 11 million suppliers and fulfillment partners built up over the years by its owner, PDD, according to a spokesperson.

Hong Kong/New York CNN —Temu and Shein are taking off in the United States, topping app stores and creating a frenzy with consumers. Shein was started in China, while Temu was launched by a Chinese company that now bills itself as a multinational firm. Both firms have enjoyed major success in the United States, noted Nicholas Kaufman, a policy analyst for the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Topping the chartsTemu and Shein have taken the world’s largest retail market — the United States — by storm. It has quickly become the most downloaded app in the United States, and continues to expand its user base.

☆ The viral success of Bytedance's new app Lemon8 shows just how pointless a TikTok ban would be
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amid talk of a TikTok ban, its Chinese parent company Bytedance is pushing a new app in the US called Lemon8. The early success of Lemon8 shows how banning TikTok wouldn't actually solve anything, experts say. As calls for a national TikTok ban escalate, its China-based parent company Bytedance is pushing a new app in the US called Lemon8. In fact, beyond TikTok and Lemon8, Bytedance has another success in its US portfolio: CapCut, a video-editing app. For Lemon8, Bytedance is pushing hard to get creators on the new app.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: MongoDB, American Airlines and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Jesse Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Employees of American Airlines help check in passengers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 11, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. Here's a look at some of the stocks making the biggest moves on Wednesday. MongoDB — Shares jumped 9.4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded MongoDB to overweight from equal weight, citing the software company's leadership in cloud optimization initiatives. American Airlines , Delta Air Lines , United Airlines — Shares of the major airline companies were under pressure on Wednesday after American Airlines updated its first-quarter guidance. Shares of American fell more than 9%, while United dropped about 2% and Delta shed nearly 6%.

☆ PDD Holdings names Jiazhen Zhao co-CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 4 (Reuters) - PDD Holdings Inc (PDD.O), which owns discount e-commerce platforms Pinduoduo and Temu, on Tuesday named Jiazhen Zhao as co-chief executive officer of the company, effective immediately. Zhao, who is one of the founding members of PDD and has served as senior vice president since 2018, joins CEO Chen Lei to steer the company as it grapples with tepid consumer demand as China's post-reopening recovery remains patchy. "In the future, Jiazhen will concentrate more on supply chain management and China operations, while my focus will be more on globalization efforts," Lei said in a statement. Zhao was behind PDD's Duo Duo Grocery business and led the operations of some product categories in the Pinduoduo platform, including agriculture. Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Multiple experts identified the presence of malware on the Pinduoduo app that exploited vulnerabilities in Android operating systems. Evidence of sophisticated malware in the Pinduoduo app comes amid intense scrutiny of Chinese-developed apps like TikTok over concerns about data security. Pinduoduo has previously rejected “the speculation and accusation that Pinduoduo app is malicious.”CNN has contacted PDD multiple times over email and phone for comment, but has not received a response. Google Play is not available in China, and Android users in the country download their apps from local stores. Engineers also found their access to big data, data sheets and the log system revoked, the source said.

☆ Google giggles at China tech’s shrinking act
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - As an $18 trillion economy home to 1.4 billion people, China is a natural font of statistical superlatives. The country’s internet giants, however, are dwarfed by American colossi like the $1.3 trillion Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL.O). Access to cheap capital helped founders like Alibaba’s Jack Ma quickly diversify and build sprawling empires with global ambitions. Meanwhile, the top eight U.S. tech names, led by Apple (AAPL.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Alphabet, are worth $8 trillion today. The American tech giants already generate three times more revenue and nearly five times more free cash flow than their aspirant Chinese challengers, Refinitiv Eikon data shows.

☆ Wall Street analysts love these emerging market stocks that all trade in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

While U.S. and European investors continue to navigate a banking crisis, high inflation and slower earnings growth, a host of emerging markets stocks beloved by Wall Street analysts are expected to surge higher. Emerging markets equities had an optimistic start to the year as China reopened its economy, and as high inflation showed signs of easing. In 2023, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) is up 4.4% through Thursday's open. In fact, some emerging markets stocks that are also listed in the U.S. could be due for huge upside. These names are included in exchange traded funds such as the the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, the Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF or the SPDR Portfolio Emerging Markets ETF.

That should unlock value for weary shareholders, and please regulators and politicians keen to control strategic businesses. The restructuring will give each of Alibaba’s six businesses, which include its core commerce division, as well as cloud computing, games and logistics units, their own chief executive and board of directors. Investors promptly added nearly $23 billion, or 10%, to the New York-listed company’s market value, now at $250 billion, following Tuesday’s announcement. The $460 billion video-game giant also operates in sensitive areas like online media, cloud computing and mobile payments. Daniel Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and chief executive of Alibaba, which will follow a holding company management model, and concurrently serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence.

☆ Morgan Stanley has upgraded a raft of stocks to overweight — here are 5
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Despite the market volatility, Morgan Stanley upgraded a raft of stocks in March, including both U.S. and global picks. Here are five of the stocks upgraded by the investment bank: Pinduoduo Morgan Stanley upgraded Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo to an overweight rating in a Mar. Furthermore, Morgan Stanley said Pinduoduo's user base has enlarged "significantly," and user stickiness has strengthened. Meta Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from equal weight to overweight , and raised its price target to $250 – implying upside of 21%. Sarepta Therapeutics Morgan Stanley upgraded Sarepta Therapeutics to overweight with a price target of $187, giving the stock potential upside of 43%.

☆ TikTok pile-on opens two cans of worms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Yet the bipartisan attack on the short-form video app, owned by China-based ByteDance, really points to two different complications – and each, in turn, opens up a much bigger can of worms. The overarching reason for Chew’s appearance is that President Joe Biden’s administration, and many in Congress, think TikTok’s Chinese backing makes it a dangerous tool of the People’s Republic. Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers accused TikTok of collecting biometric data and manipulating what information users see. It’s not just TikTok that potentially vacuums up consumer details while having close links to China. Follow @jennifersaba on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSTikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23.

☆ I placed my first order on Temu, the Chinese e-commerce app. It worked, but the dozens of marketing emails annoyed me.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Danni Santana | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Temu items in original packaging. My temu order arrived with a hole in the package. All four items included in my Temu order. Moving forward, I will keep the Temu app on my phone and scroll through when boredom strikes. Read more: Everything we know about Chinese app Temu.

☆ Everything we know about Chinese app Temu. It sells a weird variety of things for cheap — and has some wondering if it's legit.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Grace Dean | Mary Hanbury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

It's listed as the top free app in both the Google Play store and the Apple App Store, ahead of TikTok, Amazon, and Instagram. These cost savings can then be passed on to the consumer, a spokesperson for Temu told Insider. But for the average North American shopper, such low prices can actually be disconcerting, especially when they don't know much about Temu. A spokesperson for Temu told Insider that it uses its parent company's supply chain and logistics network to ship these items. Read more: I ordered my first 4 items off Chinese e-commerce app Temu and came away annoyed with the dozens of marketing emails sent after making a single purchase

Hong Kong CNN —Google has suspended Pinduoduo, a popular Chinese budget shopping app, from its Play Store after finding malware in versions of the app. In a Tuesday statement, Google said versions of the app that are not in the Play Store have been found to contain malware. “We have suspended the Play version of the app for security concerns while we continue our investigation,” a Google spokesperson said. “Google Play Protect enforcement has been set to block installation attempts of these identified malicious apps. Users that have malicious versions of the app downloaded to their devices are warned and prompted to uninstall the app,” the spokesperson said.

March 20 (Reuters) - PDD Holdings Inc (PDD.O), which owns discount e-commerce platforms Pinduoduo and Temu, on Monday missed expectations for fourth-quarter revenue as China's post-re-opening consumer recovery remains patchy. PDD reported revenue of 39.82 billion yuan ($5.79 billion) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up 46% year-on-year, but this fell short of estimates for 41.01 billion yuan, based on Refinitiv data. The group had reported 65% revenue growth in its third- quarter earnings last November. The company's revenue growth compares with single-digit gains reported by Chinese competitors Alibaba (9988.HK) and JD.com (9618.HK) for the same period. Temu's 2023 expansion will include roll outs in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.($1 = 6.8799 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Jane MerrimanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ These are our two preferred scenarios for the Fed's big March meeting next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Two things will capture all the market's attention in the coming week: The Federal Reserve's March meeting and the government's ongoing attempt to quell worries about the banking system. If it raises, Powell should speak softly; no raise and Powell should strongly remind the market that the work isn't done. Still, for the week, U.S. stocks fared better, with the S & P 500 rising 1.5% and the Nasdaq gaining 4.5%. On Thursday, initial jobless claims for the week ended March 11 came in at 192,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the prior week and below the expected 205,000. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

In U.S. federal court, SHEIN has accused Temu of contracting social-media influencers to make "false and deceptive statements" against SHEIN in their promotions of Temu.com. If Temu loses, Temu could be forced to curtail what so far has been a key marketing strategy. SHEIN seeks to block Temu from using SHEIN's name for marketing, and it wants damages from sales that SHEIN can show came through deceptive or infringing marketing. Social media influencers on TikTok often mention SHEIN in posts about Temu, comparing the companies and their merchandise. In the U.S., Temu is paying social media influencers $100 to $1,000 an hour for content plugging the Temu marketplace on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) is up 6.2% so far this year after a 19.4% plunge in 2022. Nine of 11 major S&P 500 sectors advanced in early trading. However, commodity-linked shares of mining (.SPLRCM) and oil (.SPNY) companies fell 1.0% and 0.2%, respectively, after top crude and metals consumer China set a lower-than-expected target for economic growth this year at around 5%. Shares of cryptocurrency-related companies fell after Silvergate Capital Corp (SI.N) pulled the plug on its crypto payments network, after raising doubts about the company's ability to stay in business. The S&P index recorded 19 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 69 new highs and 45 new lows.

☆ Futures subdued after strong week on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures: Dow off 0.09%, S&P slips 0.04%, Nasdaq up 0.04%March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Monday as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony and monthly payrolls report this week for cues on the central bank's interest-rate trajectory. "But it's always possible that a word like 'disinflation' slips out of his mouth, and that we get a boost on risk." Traders expect at least three 25-basis-point rate hikes this year and see rates peaking at 5.44% by September from 4.67% now. ET, Dow e-minis were down 31 points, or 0.09%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.75 points, or 0.04%, while Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 5.25 points, or 0.04%. Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Rising bond yields tend to weigh on equity valuations, particularly those of growth and technology stocks, as higher rates reduce the value of future cash flows. The three main U.S. stock indexes rallied on Friday and notched weekly gains as yields pulled back from their peaks after comments from Fed policymakers calmed jitters around aggressive rate hikes. Traders expect at least three more 25-basis-point hikes this year and see interest rates peaking at 5.44% by September from 4.67% now. ET, to assess the impact of higher rates on the manufacturing sector. Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Snowflake, Salesforce, Nio, Nvidia & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

JPMorgan downgrades Nio to neutral from overweight JPMorgan said it sees too many challenges after the Nio's earnings report on Wednesday. JPMorgan downgrades Dollar Tree to neutral from overweight JPMorgan said it sees too many macro headwinds for the discount retailer. Morgan Stanley upgrades Pinduoduo to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said the ag-tech company is a "long-term growth story." Morgan Stanley reiterates Liberty Formula One as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's bullish on shares of the auto racing company. Morgan Stanley reiterates Tesla as overweight Morgan Stanley said competitors can't keep up after Tesla's investor day on Wednesday.

☆ Chinese video streaming platform iQIYI to raise $600 mln through convertible bonds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 1 (Reuters) - Chinese video streaming company iQIYI Inc (IQ.O) said on Wednesday it would raise $600 million through the issue of convertible notes and use the funds to repay debt. U.S.-listed shares of iQIYI were down nearly 7% in premarket trading. Video-streaming app Bilibili (9626.HK), , e-commerce group Pinduoduo (PDD.O) and peers have recently piled into the convertible debt boom. Bilibili in January raised money through a discounted sale of its American depositary shares for repurchasing a convertible note. The convertible notes will mature on March 15, 2028, the company said.

With Alibaba shares down 30% in one month, enthusiasm for China's return to normalcy is peaking early. The Alibaba chief executive also cautioned that January was a "challenging time" and that the company is keeping an eye on how the reopening develops. Alibaba has hit the limits of the reopening boon. Reuters GraphicsFollow @mak_robyn on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSAlibaba on Feb. 23 reported revenue of 248 billion yuan ($35.9 billion) in the three months to December, an increase of 2% year-on-year. Adjusted earnings rose 12% to 40 billion yuan.

☆ Shein's ambitions are a bit of a stretch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shein’s top-line growth slowed from 57% in 2021 to 45% last year; the company expects that to continue, with its 2025 target implying average annual expansion of 37%. Meanwhile, Shein's projected 13% profit margin dwarfs that of web retailers like China's JD.com (9618.HK). The $118 billion PDD (PDD.O) recently rolled out its Temu shopping service; it is now the most downloaded app in the United States. Using the same 2.4 times forecast 2025 sales multiple the Inditex enterprise trades on, Shein's valuation could top $140 billion. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Temu: The online shopping upstart that's become the most downloaded app in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —A new online shopping platform linked to one of China’s top retailers has quickly become the most downloaded app in the United States, surpassing Amazon and Walmart. Temu, a Boston-based online retailer that shares the same owner as Chinese social commerce giant Pinduoduo, made its Super Bowl debut on Sunday. Climbing the chartsTemu, pronounced “tee-moo,” was launched last year by PDD, its US-listed parent company formerly known as Pinduoduo. “Temu soared to the top of both US app store charts in November, where the app still holds the top position now,” he told CNN, referring to iOS and Android mobile app stores. “Temu aims to continue to experiment in marketing and offerings, which is possible thanks to its resource-rich parent company,” she wrote in a report.

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